Ellis Marsalis, Jr
Ellis Marsalis, Jr. was a prominent American jazz pianist, educator, and influential figure in the music community, born in 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his musical journey studying clarinet and later mastered multiple instruments, including piano, which became his primary focus. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and gaining valuable performance experience, Marsalis returned to New Orleans and established a career that intertwined performance and education. He was a dedicated educator, developing jazz curricula at various institutions, including Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of New Orleans, where he taught until his retirement in 2001.
Marsalis was not only a performer but also a family man; he had six sons, four of whom became professional musicians, contributing to his legacy as the patriarch of the "first family of jazz." His work was characterized by a commitment to elevating jazz as a respected art form, influencing musicians across racial and cultural lines. Throughout his life, he received several accolades, including honorary doctorates and recognition from arts organizations. Marsalis passed away in 2020, leaving behind a significant impact on the jazz genre and education.
Subject Terms
Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
- Born: November 14, 1934
- Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Died: April 1, 2020
- Place of death: New Orleans, Louisiana
Jazz musician
Marsalis was the progenitor of a clan of well-known jazz musicians. Best known for specializing in jazz without confining himself to that style alone, he was active as a composer, performer, and educator from the 1950s until his death in 2020.
Early Life
Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr. was born in 1934 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the elder of the two children of Ellis Louis Marsalis, Sr., and Florence Marie Robinson Marsalis. Marsalis’s sister, Yvette, was born two years later. During his childhood, his father managed a gas station and later bought a house with some land on which he farmed crops and raised animals. He went on to build a motel, the Marsalis Mansion.
Marsalis attended elementary and high school in New Orleans and began his musical education studying clarinet at the Xavier University Junior School of Music; later, at Gilbert Academy, he studied tenor saxophone and took private piano lessons. With several classmates, he formed the Groovy Boys, the first jazz group in which he performed for pay. His parents attempted to persuade him to prepare for a business career, considering the music profession risky at best. However, while attending Dillard University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1955, Marsalis chose to major in clarinet performance and also undertook advanced study of the piano.
Marsalis served in the US Marine Corps in California from 1956 to 1958. At first, he played the clarinet in the military band; however, his skill in jazz piano soon was observed, and he was moved to that instrument after the departure of the previous pianist. This band appeared on radio and television in the course of its work, and Marsalis gained important professional experience.
Life’s Work
Upon completing his military service in 1958, Marsalis returned to New Orleans and married Dolores Ferdinand. He had participated in the American Jazz Quintet before serving in the Marines, and he returned to the group in New Orleans. Marsalis and Dolores had six sons, four of whom became professional musicians: Branford (born 1960), clarinetist and saxophonist;Wynton (born 1961), trumpeter; Ellis (born 1964), computer specialist; Delfeayo (born 1965), trombonist; Mboya (born 1971), who is autistic; and Jason (born 1977), percussionist. The four sons who chose to make music their careers also were involved in pursuits such as conducting, composition, education, and record production.
Marsalis began his teaching career as a high school band master and choral director. He also continued his own education, including study toward a master’s degree at Loyola University of New Orleans, learning his fourth instrument (cello) at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, and private study of music theory with Ralph Simpson at Dillard University. At Xavier University and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), he developed jazz curricula. New Orleans jazz has existed since the early twentieth century and is influenced by music in the Black community, indigenous music of the Cajuns and Creoles, and music from the Caribbean islands.
In 1986, Marsalis accepted an offer from Virginia Commonwealth University to establish a jazz education program and extend his educational activities into the public schools of Richmond, Virginia. He returned to New Orleans in 1989 and was appointed to the faculty of the University of New Orleans, where he taught until his retirement in 2001.
Marsalis’s performance activities extended throughout the United States and to countries including Japan and Thailand, but for thirty years he also maintained a weekly gig at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro, a small club in New Orleans, until shortly before his death in 2020. His associates and students included Al Hirt, Marcus Roberts, Harry Connick, Jr., and Yo-Yo Ma, as well as his sons. His awards included honorary doctorates from Dillard University and Ball State University, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and recognition from Pi Kappa Lambda and Mu Phi Epsilon. Marsalis died on April 1, 2020, from complications of the coronavirus. He was eighty-five years old.
Significance
Marsalis was a major champion of the formal study of jazz as a classic American musical idiom, demonstrating his dedication to the genre through performance, composition, and education. Over the course of his career, he influenced jazz musicians of many races and nationalities, including his sons, who acknowledged his pioneering work even as they moved beyond it and explored new musical frontiers. As the progenitor of the “first family of jazz,” Marsalis was a racial and political ambassador for the musical profession.
Bibliography
Charters, Samuel. A Trumpet Around the Corner: The Story of New Orleans Jazz. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008. Valuable study of the history of jazz as a cultural product of the city. Good background for the Marsalis family.
Feather, Leonard. “Bridging the Generation Gap: The Marsalis Family.” The Instrumentalist (November, 1984). Good introduction to the role of music in the family, covering the period up to Marsalis’s work at NOCCA and the early careers of Branford and Wynton.
Greenberg, Janice Leslie Hochstat. Jazz Books in the 1990’s: An Annotated Bibliography. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2010. Essential bibliographical reference for anyone studying jazz source materials.
Handy, D. Antoinette. Jazz Man’s Journey: A Biography of Ellis Louis Marsalis, Jr. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1999. Authorized biography of Marsalis, written with his cooperation and that of his family and friends.
Hersch, Charles. Subversive Sounds: Race and the Birth of Jazz in New Orleans. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Specialized study of the history and politics of jazz.
Limbong, Andrew. "Ellis Marsalis, Patriarch of New Orleans' Most Famous Musical Family, Has Died." The New York Times, 2 Apr. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/02/825717204/ellis-marsalis-patriarch-of-new-orleans-most-famous-musical-family-has-died. Accessed 13 Nov. 2020.
Porter, Eric. What Is This Thing Called Jazz? African American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. More generalized than studies by Hersch and Charters above in terms of jazz styles in different locations.